3D Geek Alert: Stereo Future of Web Sites

MarketSaw 3D

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Hey all, Tim here with a theoretical and factual look at the future of web technologies. I’m a self-taught web designer, and just this year made my first leaps into using HTML5 and CSS3, among a few other things. What I’ve learned is that these improved web technologies pave way for a future on the web that is more dynamic on all devices and computers. The new enhancements of HTML5 and CSS3 integrate z-space controls for web designers that can lead to a stereoscopic world wide web.

First, lets looks at what HTML5 and CSS3 does. For those unfamiliar with HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language) or CSS (Cascading Style Sheets), the simple definitions are as follows:

HTML: a language for describing web pages. CSS: defines how to display (the look and formatting) HTML elements written in markup language.

To read further about them check out the Wikipedia pages for HTML and/or CSS. HTML5 and CSS3 are enhancements on these standard web tools. As you can gather the 5 in HTML5 stands for the Fifth Revision of HTML, and the 3 in CSS3 stands for the Third Revision of CSS.

With HTML5 the need for Flash Video is no longer necessary, and video can be embedded seamlessly. This also means that mobile devices and computers both can display the video natively. HTML5 video can be customized with CSS3 to display controls designed specifically for that website, or to drop a reflection of that video below it. Major video sharing websites like Vimeo or YouTube now display their videos in HTML5 and allow users to embed those videos by providing the HTML5 code. YouTube is now able to provide stereoscopic videos with their Stereo HTML5 Video Player. Thus stereo 3D video is no problem on the web now. All that’s needed is a 3D capably display.

Then there’s CSS3. I’ve found several cool examples on how CSS3 has allowed web designers more control of their sites to style them in new visual ways. One really cool example is this site BeerCamp, where instead of scrolling visitors can travel forward and backward in z-space. That’s one example, and on this page we have another up above: the spinning MarketSaw and HTML5 logos (if they aren't working properly update your web browser). Being able to place web objects in z-space is integral to taking it forward towards being displayed stereoscopically.

Ray Zone’s official website can be viewed in stereo using anaglyph glasses because he made the background and the images anaglyph images. That’s a means for displaying a website in stereo before CSS3. Now however, all it will take is coding markup for the site to display the other eye images if it reads the display as being capable of displaying stereo 3D. It might be the next iteration of HTML & CSS, but it will be HTML and CSS that manages it. However, it's still a short distance off.

It will take some complex mathematical algorithms for the web page to look at a visitor's display and determine whether it's 3D capable. That complex algorithm is something web developers will need to hide as part of the browser, and leave it out of web designers hands. All web designer's are going to need is to provide images and web-based media in two files (left and right eye) so that the browser can display the second eye if it's a 3D-capable screen. The browser will need to be able to display only one eye in the event of a 2D display. Once this is possible, then we'll be seeing stereoscopic 3D websites pop up all over the world.

There's a future for the web in stereoscopic 3D! It may not be available tomorrow, but it will be coming soon. The web is about to get a whole lot bigger.

The SMAUG Clears! More Ammo Behind MarketSaw's Exclusive: THE HOBBIT Will Be In 3D

Jim here. Finally other sources are coming out of the woodwork claiming that Guillermo del Toro's THE HOBBIT will be in 3D (Stuff.co.nz via TORn). Excitement is mounting in advance of the official announcement that we all know at MarketSaw WILL be coming.

Of course we have had this excitement for years now. Stereoscopic 3D was ALWAYS the preferred format for the movie from Peter Jackson's perspective. Sure Weta or Wingnut spokesmen may claim otherwise to preserve their decision as being fresh news but that does not cover the facts here. MarketSaw put our reputation on the line many, many times on this exclusive morsel of news. We put up with naysayers bashing the information, and even fellow movie bloggers felt anger in having to report on our story thinking that it wasn't true. Some tried to prove it wrong.

In the end, vindication will be sweet. It is because we have the BEST sources in the world - sources that care deeply about their work and about the movies. I am proud to have them on our side.

THE HOBBIT will be GORGEOUS in 3D. Just the sweeping vistas of New Zealand / Middle-earth alone will be mesmerizing!! Throw in a healthy measure of SMAUG and we have an epic adventure befitting the Tolkien masterpiece.

Ian McKellan (Gandalf) further reveals that THE HOBBIT will begin shooting in June!

Needless to say we are anxious to get started on reporting further exclusives from inside the production! And TRUST ME, those scoops are coming. Keep it on MarketSaw for breaking news on all things Hobbit.

EXCLUSIVE: Fellow 3D Producer Echoes Cameron's Use of 3D to Tap Brain Activity for AVATAR

Jim here. I have some interesting insight into the science behind how Cameron's use of 3D could affect us for AVATAR and as readers of MarketSaw we get to see it first. PassmoreLab confirms that AVATAR could take our brains 'Where we haven't been before’...

From Passmorelab (emphasis is mine):

James Cameron’s epic new 3D movie Avatar, expected in theaters this winter, has a mountain of press expectations to climb. The movie is widely rumored to be so forward-thinking that it may change the way we experience movies altogether – and Greg Passmore, president of PassmoreLab in San Diego thinks he knows why.

Responding to a recent NY Times article about Avatar, where behavioral neurologists commented that Mr. Cameron’s work could tap brain systems that are undisturbed by conventional 2D movies, Greg Passmore, a 3D film producer himself, smiles.
“It’s never been done before on this scale,” says Passmore. “And the effect could be mind-blowing.”

Passmore and his team designed a powerful volume renderer for use in seismic exploration and then adapted it for neurology. He became interested in volumetric rendering while working at a neurology clinic in the 1970s while struggling with the crude EEG devices of the time. Over the years, his visualization tools have been used for brain mapping, which reveals what portions of our brains are consuming resources while processing occurs. Over thirty years in the industry and the examination of thousands of case studies have given Passmore a unique perspective.

“The tools are here now. By comparison, good 3D filmmaking, by design, should provide more memorable movies. And I believe this is exactly what James Cameron is trying to pioneer with Avatar,” explains Passmore. “Stereoptic film provides a greater sensation of physical presence and thus stimulates autonomic arousal of risk, provoking emotion and thus memory tagging the event.”

PassmoreLab has a medical division that has long been involved in volumetric imaging using Functional Positron Emission Tomography.

“Datasets supplied by our customers have allow us to see, in vivo, the spatial processing of the human brain,” says Passmore. “Although part of our spatial cognition is derived from time-based vestibular sensations, it appears that much of our environmental awareness comes from constructing large scale models of our world. The additional input of stereopsis can provide for more efficient building of these models, especially in spaces close to the viewer, by revealing partial occlusions invisible to monocular vision. These differential occlusions presumably help internal model construction.”

A lack of stereopsis can have real world impact, such as the 1996 Delta Flight 554 crash at New York’s LaGuardia Airport, which was caused by inadequate depth awareness due to reduced stereopsis.

“The National Transportation Safety Board determined that the captain of that flight, due to his use of monovision contact lenses, was unable to overcome his misperception of the airplane's position relative to the runway during the visual portion of the approach,” continues Passmore. “Hence, the aircraft descended below the visual glidepath and collided with terrain on approach.”

Tests conducted at PassmoreLab in driving simulators support this contention.

“With the experience being less passive, the body responds with greater anxiety and the memory becomes more permanent in nature,” says Passmore. “Our emotions are heightened by perceived risk, and our memory becomes tagged by the event. These laws can, in all likelihood, be applied to filmmaking -- drawing the audience into the action -- and creating the environmental awareness. I can’t wait to see what he has done with Avatar.”

About PassmoreLab
Passmorelab, the “World’s Largest 3D Content Provider”, is a San Diego-based multi-media production studio that specializes in 3D production and 2D to 3D content conversion. The studio custom-designs and builds its own RED camera 3D rigs for both conventional and rugged film productions, shooting everything from feature films, television and science documentaries, to underwater diving, extreme sports and cave exploration. State-of-the-art facilities include a full 3D production studio, video/film post-production, optical development lab, and a software development environment. Production includes 2D, 3D, high dynamic range time lapse, stereoscopic microscopy and cutting-edge simulation technologies for real time SFX. Passmorelab’s proprietary technology for 2D to 3D video and film conversion is unmatched in the industry, in both turnaround times and conversion costs. PassmoreLab has additional offices in Russia and the Philippines. For more information, visit www.passmorelab.com.

I am intrigued with the science behind how stereoscopic 3D affects the human brain. In fact I would love to see a documentary on it. In 3D of course. AVATAR will be the first 3D movie out there that will truly test these effects. Passmorelab certainly has the background to comment on it and patrons of Comicon will get an early taste! But what I am waiting for - and I am sure most of you are - is the full experience from the moment 20th Century Fox's logo appears in 3D to the last fade out. How will AVATAR affect you? We will all find out in 5 months!